As we've been reporting in this
column for the past few weeks,
Des Moines City Councilwoman Christine
Hensley has been death on the
idea of promoting acting City
Manager Rick Clark into that position
on a permanent basis. However,
Hensley, who we're told had been
trying to swing Archie Brooks
and Tom Vlassis in the direction
away from Clark, has had little
in the way of luck. And when it
appeared to her that the "fix
was in" to make Clark a finalist
with questionable competition,
Hensley made public the list (perhaps
via Eric Anderson so she could
deny it if questioned) of all
who had applied for the job before
it was whittled down to four (three
when one dropped). "(The
council's) intention was to have
a crappy list so Clark would clearly
be the best," a source close
to Hensley told us. "That's
why the council is so pissed (Hensley)
leaked the list (which is not
illegal) to the Register."
When we asked one of Hensley's
fellow city leaders, the individual,
who admitted the council looked
foolish but denied its intention
was to have Clark be "wired-in,"
told us to "add it up."
"She is no longer running
the show, and when Anderson left,
she lost her last chance at any
kind of power. She hates Rick
because he won't meet with her
one-on-one and let her dictate
what's coming down the pipe like
Eric did, and she isn't the type
to sit idly by. She's a bitter
game-player. But we had her boxed
in (Friday), so she wanted to
save face in the end and voted
our way." What was her goal?
"To send us back to the drawing
board," this person said.
"But it was never going to
happen, Register editorial or
not. And now everyone is walking
away from her. She's done."

Lists aren't falling into the
lap of Register education reporter
Lynn Campbell, however. Campbell,
in an e-mail to a DMPS official,
asked for information regarding
upcoming forums on the issue of
attendance but was rebuffed. In
an e-mail from DMPS Communications
Director Klark Jessen to board
members and senior staff, Jessen
wrote: "We are currently
overwhelmed by data requests from
Lynn Campbell. It's important
to remember that we are not obligated
to put (an employee) to work compiling
a report because the Register
requests it." Federal Sunshine
laws might stipulate otherwise.

The finger pointing continues
in the race to see which Democrat,
Mike Blouin or Chet Culver, will
run against likely Republican
candidate Jim Nussle for Iowa
governor. Last week a top state
source told us that Blouin's only
way back in the race would be
to go negative, and lo and behold,
his campaign did exactly that
by pointing out that Culver had
received $40,000 from a questionable
source - Scott Ginsburg, who was
fined $1 million for violating
insider trading rules. Just one
problem, though: Culver's group
was able to, in the same 24-hour
period, fight back by pointing
out that Blouin had received a
$25,000 contribution from Bernard
L. Schwartz, whose company paid
$20 million in connection with
a federal probe into its dealings
with the Chinese military. "Nice
bomb," a Culver insider said.
"Too bad it blew up in their
face. Of course, if I was $500,000
behind in cash-on-hand and still
couldn't figure out, as a Democrat,
a straight answer on the abortion
issue, I'd look at the numbers
and say my best option was to
run a desperate and negative effort
to destroy the frontrunner, too."
Our statehouse source from last
week's issue pointed out again
that these types of "games"
will weaken the ticket in the
fall.

In other news regarding the
Democratic side of the gubernatorial
race, a few statehouse leaders
have begun to wonder out loud
why staffers in the Secretary
of State's office are showing
up on Culver's campaign disclosure
statement. A total of 24 reimbursements
paid to Joni Klaassen, Scott Ourth
and John Hedgecoth, all on the
state payroll, were made by Culver's
committee. "We know they
have day jobs," a legislator
said. "And working on Chet's
campaign while being paid by Iowa
taxpayers is not it." Hedgecoth
was reprimanded for campaign violations
in both 2003 and 2004.

Campaigns of other Democratic
presidential hopefuls not named
Tom Vilsack have been showing
increasing distress over the Iowa
Democratic Party's obvious pro-Vilsack
tilt ever since former Vilsack
aide Mike Milligan took over as
executive director and Lt. Gov.
Sally Pederson took over as state
chair, a top national source told
us. Even though party policies
explicitly prohibit state party
staff from taking sides in primaries
or presidential caucuses, the
latest report from Vilsack's Heartland
PAC shows that it purchased a
$2,500 laptop computer for Mike
Milligan (doing business as Milligan
Consulting). "How can John
Edwards and Hilary Clinton or
other prospective candidates expect
a level playing field in Iowa,
and why would they even bother
attending our caucuses, if the
party bigwigs won't play by the
rules?"

A top statewide Republican said,
"You could almost hear Dusky
Terry's campaign for secretary
of agriculture come to a screeching
halt at the candidates' debate
put on by WHO Radio at the Iowa
Power Farm Show." Terry benefited
heavily when his former boss,
Gov. Vilsack, literally forced
two other Democrats out of the
race. But when Terry was asked
about specific programs he'd start
or eliminate, he could only say
he has ideas, and "programs
will be developed in the future."
"People have been thinking
this is the guy to beat,"
said one political operative at
the debate. Now, we're told, Republicans
are taking a harder look at how
much to invest in the race. CV